While We’re Waiting serves as the early morning gathering of WFNY-esque information for your viewing pleasure. Have something you think we should see? Send it to our tips email at tips@waitingfornextyear.com.
Great read on the iconic sports posters of the ’80′s- “The posters were not only distinctive because of their originality – marrying pop culture and sports during an era of affluence when athletes were marketed as icons – many of them also projected a nuanced yet important image of athletes not as caricatures, but as men worthy of superhero status. That aspect had particular resonance among black athletes who had rarely been promoted in such a positive way.
Working out of their father’s garage in downtown Seattle with a small group of childhood friends, the Costacos soon maxed out their credit line to create a business that captured the biggest sports stars of their era in a way that had never been done before. They convinced the athletes to pose for photographers in get-ups that were at once playful and positive, creating lasting and captivating images. They called Giants’ slugger Kevin Mitchell “Bat Man” and dressed him in a cape; running back Herschel Walker was “The H-Bomb,” exploding out of a sea of fire.” [Nelson/SBNation]
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“I’ll admit, this was my mindset most of my life. I could not step outside of the moment of competition. The moment was all that there was. It is with this mindset that I that I watched the Cavaliers, for the past twelve years. Every analysis of every game, every moment of viewing till the last two years was an exercise in testosterone manipulation: winning good: losing bad. This ethos pervades American thought. One thing that I’ll always be strangely grateful to LeBron James is that in the wake of LeBrocalypse, I began to realize that yes, there was more to life than winning. I mean I knew that consciously, or rather, I was aware of the idea, but I didn’t really believe it. The obsession with winning and losing and being perceived as a winner or a loser is definitely some paleo thinking. It’s hard wired into our brains, but as enlightened beings, I think that we must somehow find a way to transcend that.
We’ve been able to do that to a certain extent with this Cavs team. One thing that will cure the need to win day to day would be watching a young basketball team that is still learning how to play hard consistently. The riddle of what must take the place of winning in day to day existence is something that I’ve coped with, personally, and we as teams have coped with since it became obvious that the Cavs weren’t going to be winning very often. The question is, how do we get there, and how do we live our lives as fans, athletes, coaches, and individuals once we do realize that there must be more than winning? The way we judge ourselves on a day to day basis must be something more sane and less haphazard than on whether a ball goes in or out of a basket more often than it does for someone else.” [Smith/Cavs the Blog]
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“The bottom line is that the Cavs are a dreadful defensive team. They’re a pretty bad offensive team as well, but the assumed develop of Dion Waiters and Tristan Thompson (along with Kyrie Irving) ought to give them a boost. Defensively, Nerlens Noel could be an absolute game-changer. He shuts down the paint and as you can see in that clip of Kentucky vs. Ole Miss, he has the ability to dominate a basketball game without scoring a single point.
There are plenty of nice prospects in the upcoming draft. Ben McLemore is dynamic and Alex Len could be the next Zydrunas Ilgauskas. But it’s likely that nobody will have the upside or the immediate impact of Nerlens Noel. If the Cavs are drafting first overall, Nerlens is the guy.” [Kaczmarek/Fear the Sword]
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Can Jimenez and Masterson rebound- “Combining the two positive factors (28 or younger AND at least one good previous season), there are fourteen players. Seven of them later had another good year. Looking at it that way, the subgroup that holds Masterson and Jimenez (and Lincecum and Romero) would seem to have a 50/50 shot at ever recovering for another strong season.
There are plenty of caveats to this, of course: This is a small sample of players, too small to be considered scientific. ERA+ is far from the most complete way of assessing players’ seasons. ERA+ cut-offs of 80 for selecting poor seasons and 110 for good seasons are somewhat arbitrary. Age and prior success are also not the only ways to create subgroups within the sample. That said, I think this study gives us some sense of what might be expected of Justin Masterson and Ubaldo Jimenez going forward. I think most Tribe fans would be happy to have just one of the two put together another strong season.” [Lukehart/Let's Go Tribe]
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“But the second option is just as dicey. Former Browns general manager Tom Heckert (the guy that Banner said made the team better than it was, but who had to go so the Browns could hire Mike Lombardi) left the Browns a lovely parting gift when he was shown the door – more than $45 million in cap space. That pile of cash would allow Banner to conceivably put together an offer for Flacco that would be very, very difficult for the Ravens to match.
In addition to the salary, it would cost the Browns two No. 1 draft picks if they signed Flacco away from Baltimore. So while the Browns would be getting a clear upgrade at the quarterback position, they would also be handing a division rival two first-round picks that, deep down in their hearts, Browns fans know Newsome will turn into gold in the draft.” [Moore/Red Right 88]
